A rant about basic concepts I

I have been trying to lose weight for quite some time and have found an awesome diet that works really well for me. I have already lost 17 pounds with the diet that I am on. The concept of it is about carbs, and I understand your rant about it being all about calories, but my question to you is...if it works for me to think about it in terms of carbs instead of calories then what is the problem?
 
Calories are the foundation.

Low carbs vs. high carbs rest on said foundation.

For some, low carb may very well work better than high carb approaches.

But that says nothing in terms of calories.

Follow me?
 
Im a newbie and I am reading!!!

Hi Steve,

I wanted you to know I am a newbie and I read your post. I will take the heart of your words and use the advice to my advantage.

Being a nurse and working with many patients who are very sick I have learned (not mastered) the idea of "energy in energy out".

Easy peasy - eat less, exercise more = weight loss. No need for fads just dedication and heart.

So here I go!!
 
emotions could play a role in will power which you absolutley need. when it comes down to it wieght loss is simple. just working hard and eating right. If you truley do that there is no way you wont see results.
 
Long road

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and I am optimistic about using this as a tool for sucess. I am 21 and weigh 322 pounds(I am down six pounds in a week!!). I have been big all of my life at 5' 11. I want to be a vet and when I look at the prerequisites you have to be physically fit to be admitted into the program. I am not there yet but Ill be damned if that is what bars my entrance into vet school so here I am venting. Thank you everyone!

Cheers-Elisha
 
Hi, just joined here (I'm quite a bit younger than most people here, in 9th grade actually) and looking for some advice. I've watched anorexia destroy many girls at my school obsessing over their weight/body, and as a girl I'm looking for a way to tone my body, mainly stomach and thighs, taking a route healthier and more effective than starving myself.

I'm 5' 4" and by no means overweight--I'm 100 pounds and actually don't really need to lose weight, I just want to get more fit and tone my body. I have membership to 24 hr fitness, which is right down the street, so I definitely have resources (although I'm a little intimidated over there with so many older people sweating it out and staring at me as if to say, "what is SHE doing here??" as most of the youngest people there are in late HS). Any suggestions for a good workout for someone my size that I can do twice a week, and maybe some nutrition advice, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

~Gramrgrl (yes, I'm a grammar freak, but I promise not to correct anyone here like I do with friends at home =P)
 
Not a rant, but more like "keeping it real"!

I don't know where to start, other than to first thank you for a great "rant". If all rants were this honest, informative and useful, and not all b*tching and no substance, I'd love to hear them a lot more often!

I hate when people sound like late night informercials, as if they're trying to sell you a magic bullet or that they've discovered the holy grail of something.

You keep it real and yet, you manage to motivate at the same time, making the best out of what people are willing to put into it.

Definitely looking forward to more rants! (I never thought I'd say that! :)
 
Dude, you are so on about the HITT fallacy. I'm so tired of every fitness freak telling me I just NEED it if I plan on losing weight. But I don't think I do. I mean, I'm new to this workout thing and I don't wanna overwork my body just to "target the fat and not the carbs". I'm pretty sure my greatest concern would be to get started and MAINTAIN my routine as it is right now, and not focus on those things till I start to get substantial.

:piggy:
 
9. You MUST eat at least 5 meals per day. Fact of fallacy?

Answer: Fallacy

There is a huge myth that has been floating around the fitness circles that eating more meals per day speeds up your metabolism, thus, helping you lose more weight.

It doesn't.

I am a fan of multiple, smaller meals. I, myself, consume 6-7 per day. However, this is not because of some magical metabolic change that occurs due to the number of meals consumed. I eat that many mainly b/c I have to pack in so much food in order to add muscle. Too, eating multiple times per day helps with macro/micro nutrient uptake, insulin regulation, etc, etc. It has its benefits, but aiding in metabolic rate and therefore weight loss is not one of them.

If you can't squeeze in that many meals per day due to schedule, don't sweat it.

REALLY?!

You do NOT know how I wish I knew this ages ago.

For so long I've been having trouble with my diet because I just can't manage eating so many times a day. I've been hearing "You've gotta eat every 2 -3 hours a day to keep up your metabolism going or you'll just be wasting time!!!"

I'm out all the time (well I was) and I used to hang out over friends all day and be SO frustrated by having to plan out my whole days worth of food so I could follow some ridiculous schedule for eating.

I personally found it ANNOYING to eat so often, maybe if you like to eat it's fun because you get to eat a little bit again and again but I couldn't take it.

You have no idea how STUNTED I've been with my dieting because I just had this "well what's the point of doing it if you aren't going to do it right" attitude.

Thank you so much.

And I have a question? IS breakfast as important as people make it sound? I've heard the same things "breakfast boosts your metabolism so you lose weight". But I'm just not a breakfast person and "skinny people eat breakfast" is something I also hear (and somehow the skinniest people I know never eat breakfast, go figure).

It just makes me feel a little sick when I eat breakfast as soon as I get up. Some morning juice or protein shake, sure but solid food is hard for me especially because it takes me awhile to actually feel hungry.
 
I actualy think that emotions such as stress do affect metabolism and the break down of calories. In these situations the hormones that control metabolism and burn calories are affected, therefore leading to the body clinging onto calroies.
 


Really. :)

Higher meal frequency is often touted by a lot of the magazines and even some professionals but in the research and anecdotally it really isn't the case. I mean, if higher meal frequency helps you personally in terms of hunger and the like, that's great. I'm not suggesting anyone change that.

But many people can do just as well or even better with a lower meal frequency.

The misunderstanding comes primarily from the thermic effect of food, otherwise known as TEF. It's one component of our metabolic needs. The smallest I might add. The other components include the thermic effect of activity (TEA) and your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

TEF increases after you eat, obviously, as your body works to breakdown and utilize the foods you just ate. Each time you eat, metabolism increases. People took this too mean, "Eat more frequently and boost your metabolic rate."

The problem with this logic is this: If you eat fewer, larger meals... the thermic effect per meal is going to be larger since your body will have to "work harder" to breakdown and utilize the larger food per meal. Thus, you're left with zero net difference in terms of TEF or metabolism.

Same calories spread over more, smaller meals = smaller, more frequent TEF per meal.

Same calories spread over less, larger meals = larger, less frequent TEF per meal.

For so long I've been having trouble with my diet because I just can't manage eating so many times a day. I've been hearing "You've gotta eat every 2 -3 hours a day to keep up your metabolism going or you'll just be wasting time!!!"

And that's exactly why I take issue with people saying it's a necessity. It's the polar opposite. Choose a meal frequency that fits your schedule and body.

Just make sure you're accounting for calories and nutrients.

And I have a question? IS breakfast as important as people make it sound? I've heard the same things "breakfast boosts your metabolism so you lose weight". But I'm just not a breakfast person and "skinny people eat breakfast" is something I also hear (and somehow the skinniest people I know never eat breakfast, go figure).

Breakfast doesn't have some crazy metabolic boosting effect. Metabolism simply doesn't vary greatly over these short periods of time. In experimentation, the largest drop was something like 30-40% and that was after months of extreme starvation dieting of lean mean to mimic the Nazi concentration camps.

Over the course of a night, you're not going to see metabolic swings that matter.

It just makes me feel a little sick when I eat breakfast as soon as I get up.

Have you tried shakes or smoothies?

Some morning juice or protein shake, sure but solid food is hard for me especially because it takes me awhile to actually feel hungry.

My typical breakfast is a shake that includes fat free milk, fat free yogurt, natural peanut butter, chocolate protein powder, a frozen banana, and a couple of ice cubes.
 
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